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Warning: This story contains the name and images of a deceased Indigenous person.<\/p>\n
The body of missing Alice Springs girl Sharon Granites has been found five kilometres south of the camp where she was last seen.<\/p>\n
Sharon vanished from her family\u2019s home in Old Timers Aboriginal Town Camp<\/a> on Saturday night. Police believe she was abducted by Jefferson Lewis, 47, who was staying in the area after having been released from prison.<\/p>\n NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole provided the tragic update on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cJust before midday today, police members of the search party located the body of a young Aboriginal girl we believe to be five-year-old Sharon Granites,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an incredibly distressing development. Sharon\u2019s family have been formally notified, and our thoughts are firmly with them at this devastating time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not in a position today to provide answers around the cause of Sharon\u2019s death or how long she may have been deceased.<\/p>\n \u201cA post-mortem examination will now be conducted.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the worst possible outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharon\u2019s body was found during a land search by police officers after expanding the original search area.<\/p>\n NT Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley said Lewis was yet to be located.<\/p>\n \u201cThe focus right now is to locate Jefferson Lewis, that is our sole job in this investigation right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe say to the family of Jefferson Lewis that we believe he\u2019s murdered this child. Do not assist him \u2013 get him to the police station and we\u2019ll look after him.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I say to Jefferson Lewis: we\u2019re coming for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Testing confirmed that clothing found on Sunday at a river bed near the camp allegedly had two DNA profiles recovered from it.<\/p>\n Relatives from across the Northern Territory and Kimberley had flocked to the small house in Old Timers Camp to offer support to Sharon\u2019s family as the search for her entered its fifth day on Thursday.<\/p>\n Sharon\u2019s paternal grandmother Peggy Rockman, in the hours before Sharon\u2019s body was found, tearfully remembered the five-year-old girl\u2019s \u201cbeautiful relationship\u201d with Sharon\u2019s father \u2013 her 29-year-old son.<\/p>\n Rockman said she would often babysit for Sharon and her brother, and said she remembered holding her hand while walking in community. She said she \u201ccouldn\u2019t wait for her to come home\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI love that little girl,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Peggy\u2019s son is in custody, where it is understood he is receiving updates from police and community members.<\/p>\n Sharon\u2019s great aunt, Rose Spencer, said she remembered when Lewis arrived at the community after being told by members of another camp, Yuendumu, that he was not welcome there.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people come to camp after prison, it scares us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe trusted him as a family. He was in [our family], but not any more. We don\u2019t trust people.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to this masthead in the hours before Sharon\u2019s body was found, Spencer remembered her niece as a \u201chappy, pretty girl\u201d, who called their tiny kitten Yellow and loved watching videos on YouTube.<\/p>\n She said Sharon\u2019s older brother was incredibly protective over her, and said he would pick her up and dust her off every time she would fall or hurt herself.<\/p>\n More than 160 police and volunteers were involved in the search for Sharon on Thursday.<\/p>\n Dole said police believed Lewis was still in Alice Springs and was being helped to evade detection.<\/p>\n The search for him has been further hampered by the fact he has no mobile phone, bank account or vehicle, forcing police to resort to \u201c1930s-style\u201d shoe-leather policing.<\/p>\n Searchers have scoured places Lewis is known to visit and have reviewed his GPS movements from an old ankle monitoring bracelet, but there has been no trace of him.<\/p>\n NT Police have reached out to neighbouring states in their bid to find Lewis, with WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch confirming his officers had attended Balgo, a remote Aboriginal community in the Kimberley, where Lewis\u2019 wife lives.<\/p>\n \u201cThe family have made no sighting for the person that Northern Territory Police are looking for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at least we\u2019re working closely with all communities across the northern parts of Western Australia to keep a lookout.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis had been imprisoned multiple times in the past decade for serious assaults and domestic violence-related offences. He has no prior convictions for child-related offences.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Sharon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/93eb047cd383cfdf2cfcc9011edfc9d76dd1a0a5ce8cc90523ad7fc37f5d76c7.jpeg\")
Sharon Granites went missing from Old Timers camp on Saturday night.Rob Roy<\/p>\n![\"Jefferson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0ea58ef660a079ba359db89f40b1e16e9714c01b.jpeg\")
Jefferson Lewis.Police media<\/p>\n![\"Peggy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0034c871a15566ecfc86dc4fd8721d107f7378fe.jpeg\")
Peggy Rockman Granites cries for her missing granddaughter hours before Sharon Granites\u2019 body was found. Sam Mooy<\/p>\n![\"Sharon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/769de39a99639a70e0425350a00cd54852cdeeff.jpeg\")
Sharon Granites.NT Police<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8f02720e85ba84beacf1dfe968437b6b68031c6e.jpeg\")
A stretch of the Todd River behind the Old Timers Camp in Alice Springs. Sam Mooy<\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/376ee4137fa6df7c735b62bb63cf5e5ae62bd395.jpeg\")
Members of the Northern Territory Police and emergency services volunteers during the search for missing five-year-old Sharon Granites.Sam Mooy<\/p>\n